Pokemon: Mystery Adventure
by ShadowDem0n
Summary: Oh, wow. What a mysterious title. Not. Anyway, I hereby present to you, the first fan-fiction I have ever published! Which is weird, because I have written quite a few... Maybe later. This story is a Pokémon fan-fiction, obviously, but it has a few twists. I highly encourage feedback, no matter how little. Just tell me if you like it and what I should change. The rest is inside!
1. Chapter 1

**Hello, external universe, that which my mind has translated for me. I do not wish to scare you or confuse you, only to entertain. If you can see through my typed words, and you hate me already, please, comment very rudely (try not to use impolite words, if you know which ones I am talking about) and let me know your foretelling of abhorrence towards me. And please, if I spell something wrong, use incorrect grammatical order, or type anything that can be edited for the better, let me know in huge fits of rage that will make me remember never to do that again. Thank you for reading this, and please continue on to the actual storyline!**

**P.S.: Beware of the twist.**

**Made up starter lines: GRASS: Dogwhud, Treabark, Aclawnitum; FIRE: Magmott, Paralava, Incinerant; WATER: Cnidarainn, Hydrollusk, Cephalopuddle **

**Prologue**

Under the Oran tree, I thought. I reflected back on my actions. I relived the events that brought me here, to this situation. How… how could this madness truly be happening to me now? What did I ever do to earn a fate such as the one given to me? My head ached in its thought, so I decided to close my stinging eyes and rest. As I slowly drifted to sleep, I could feel again the twisted plot that forged the roads which led me to slip through the fourth wall in this sentence, and the evil laughter of the author that typed and edited these words.

**Story**

I woke up, my clock extra loud as it chanted, "Charmander! Charmander!" I slowly lifted my hand, and pushed down the tail on my orange, plastic, amphibian alarm clock. I stood up, and placed my feet on the floor, cold and wooden. I walked outside when I realized, today was the day I received my first Pokémon. Whoa, wait a minute, today is the day I get my first Pokémon! Yippeeeeeee!

Running as fast as I could, I raced my shadow to the Pokémon center. I couldn't wait! Burst through the door to Professor Filbert's Lab, and, to my surprise, several kids behind me did, too. I sprinted with all my might to the pedestal that held three Pokéballs, each containing one of three Pokémon the Professor has saved for us. My hand stretched as far out ahead of me as possible, I leaped for them, hoping to get a good choice before I don't have an option anymore. I picked up two, then, swiftly, the third, but the second slipped out of my hand as I did so. At least I had a choice of two, now. Before the other Pokéball ever hit the steel floor, it was already swiped up by someone else. I was about to press the button on the Pokéball when…

"Hold up one minute!" someone behind the crowd of eager kids yelled angrily. I turned to look at who it was. The Professor himself was shouting at the crowd of halted youngsters, pointing his index finger toward the group. "You can't just bust into my lab and steal my Pokéballs like a bunch of mad rats! You need to be," I covered my ears while he took a big gulp of air, "PAAAATIEEEEENNNNT!" The others weren't as prepared as me, and they took a huge blow to their eardrums, some of them even falling over. Although I couldn't resist as much noise as I would with my hands, the Pokéballs blocked out enough to keep my ears from hurting.

"You insolent mongrels, you putrid brats, all of you need to hurry out these doors, take your filthy heaps of idiot's nonsense, bury it under your disgusting footprints, and walk back in with some respect, or I will personally go to each and every one of your parents' doorsteps and tell them what you have done, right after I rip the life and motivation out of your contaminated brains, spit on it, burn it, and replace your empty pits-for-souls with white-hot nails!" By now, every kid in the building was either weeping madly, cradled on the floor crying, or running out of the doors with the look of someone who had just witnessed their first murder. I, for one, was exhausting my muscles to get the heck out of the building.

Everyone had gotten their emotional beating of a lifetime, but I was running to hide behind a tree and choose my Pokémon. One of them read, "Dogwhud", and the other, "Magmott". I extremely disliked bugs and larvae, so I didn't pick Magmott, despite the pure damage output that its final evolution, Incinerant, can throw at its opponent in battle. I decided to pick Dogwhud, the grass type. It evolves into a grass-dark type, Aclawnitum, at the end of its evolution chain, one that reminded me of a Werewolf and a Timberwolf (mostly the My Little Pony ones) at the same time.

I emerged from behind the tree, waiting for some more kids to run out of the building. I snuck back in and saw only four other ten-year olds left, two of them still crying. I quietly put the Pokéball that contained Magmott back in its place on the pedestal. Then I ran out the door, as quick as I could, just in case someone (Professor Filbert) saw me.

After trudging up a particularly sandy hill, I considered taking the left path instead of a right to meet and train my new Dogwhud in the tall grasses. I didn't even see my mom at all today, so I thought I should go and at least let her know where I was…

When the hill was scaled, I had made my decision. I would go left to train, despite my mother's lack of knowledge of my location. I jogged over to Route 11, where there were smaller Pokémon, ones easier to train on, hiding in the tall grass… yeah, I said route 11… Look, not all regions are mapped out with their route numbers obviously telling you the areas with the weaker Pokémon and the areas with the stronger ones! Anyway, I walked around in the tall grass, looking for some Pokémon to test my Dogwhud's skills on. I released Dogwhud anyway, just so I could have time to get to know it. I pressed the button on the Pokéball, and Dogwhud plopped itself right in front of me with a flash of white light.

"Dauh?" it said as it turned over to me. It looked at me curiously, as if it were reading a very difficult word. I held my hand out, and it took a step back and quietly growled.

"Come on, Dogwhud, it's okay!" Dogwhud slowly took a step toward me, then another, then one more. I kneeled down, and Dogwhud sniffed my palm, trying to make sure I was safe to be with. I didn't mean to, but I startled it when I moved my hand to the top of its head to pet it. It jumped back, but not too far. I took my hand away, and smiled. I wanted Dogwhud to know it could trust me. Its mood changed almost immediately, and it jumped on me. I fell back, Dogwhud jumped onto my belly. I pet its rough exterior, made entirely out of bark, as it licked my face. I could now see it was a boy, because it had only one leaf on its stiff, twig-like, wagging tail. I held him in my hands as I slowly uplifted myself with my knees until I was standing. I put Dogwhud down onto the grass.

Alright, Dogwhud! Let's go find you a Pokémon to train on! I ran into the tall grass, Dogwhud behind my back. It was hard to believe I would make it this far, this early. To my surprise, a Drilbur plopped out of the ground from beneath my foot, and I fell over forward. With my luck, my face landed straight onto a Pineco. How awesome of a start. Dogwhud instantly leapt onto Drilbur from behind with a tackle.

I took several steps back to avoid any damage to myself, then shouted, "Dogwhud, absorb attack!" Dogwhud had no idea what that meant, so he simply jumped onto Pineco with another tackle. Pineco used harden, I could tell because it got a bit shinier than before. Drilbur skipped over and attacked Dogwhud with scratch. Dogwhud didn't seem to be very wounded by the attack.

Dogwhud used Absorb on Drilbert, probably to recover some health. Dogwhud's eyes glowed green, and small green sparkles flew from Drilbur to Dogwhud. It was super-effective, and Drilbur looked pained. Pineco, **clearly** being the smart one in the battle, used harden again. Drilbur used scratch again, but Dogwhud dodged the attack, so the strike landed right on Pineco's fortified face. Dogwhud used tackle and knocked Drilbur right into Pineco again, and Drilbur fainted on top of Pineco.

Pineco used bug buzz and threw Drilbur right off of it. Dogwhud growled at Pineco, and Pineco tilted back in surprise. That was when Dogwhud used tackle once more, and Pineco fainted. Dogwhud had made short work of them both, and did so with full health left over and without any of my instructions! Clearly this Pokémon was smart, smart enough for Kanto's contests! "Dogwhud, return!" I shouted, needlessly, while the Pokéball opened. Red, transparent energy flew out of the capsule, engulfed Dogwhud, and flew back in the capsule. I put Dogwhud's Pokéball in my pocket, having forgotten my backpack at home. I started walking back home. That was when I heard the bang.

Several more bangs, like gunshots, I heard as I began to run back home. _They sound exactly like gunshots, but guns have been outlawed for years. Where in the Region of Eridia would someone get a gun from? _I ran faster, the gunshot sounds increasing. My heart was exploding over and over again in my chest. I ran faster than I did out of Filbert's lab. When I approached the town, I saw a group of people, all of them dressed extremely strangely, white spandex-suit-like outfits with emblems bearing a green letter "E". Their hair was dyed green, too, and their boots were knee-high and black. I knew what this was. This was team Equinox.

With masks covering their face, some of them began taking out another weapon, one that looked like a fire extinguisher, but sideways and much bigger. Flames came pouring out the nozzles, drenching several houses in orange. I began to cry as I watched people running out of their houses, screaming. Most of them were children, and about half of them were on fire.

Some of the Team Equinox members pulled out pistols and chased the kids. Most of the people who ran were shot down. I saw someone who looked about five take a bullet from behind, and I could see a hole on her forehead as she fell to the ground.

I turned around, running as fast as possible from the complete terror I had seen. I heard someone shout, "Hey! One is getting away!" A shiver ran down my spine, the shock reverberating through my blood a thousand times a second as I hoped and hoped that they didn't mean me. I heard footsteps behind me, getting closer as I ran.

An earthquake, it seemed, struck the ground. I fell to the ground, and, from what I heard, so did the group behind me. Another shook the ground beneath me, and then another. They seemed to be getting louder, closer, perhaps. I looked around, and before long, spotted the silhouette of a giant figure stomping toward the area. I could tell that it was Regigigas when the light from its tri-beam attack showed me some color, a shade of yellow, some white, and six multicolored dots.

Then, a ball of fire came hurdling toward me, but landed a couple meters behind. I could feel the heat, and hear the yells of Team Equinox, from behind me. I got up and tried to run some more. I heard lightning go off a bit further behind me, but I kept running. I tried to make a big leap whenever I predicted the footstep of Regigigas would occur so I didn't fall over again. I kept running, not giving any thought to where I was or where I was going. I could hear another few footsteps behind me, chasing me. I kept running until, of course, a dead end. Tears running down my cheek, legs aching, lungs and throat stinging, I turned from the ledge and instinctively threw out my Pokéball. It landed on the ground and shot out Dogwhud. I didn't notice when the ice attack had exploded. I could see a Team Equinox member come around from behind a tree, aiming his pistol right between my eyes.

I cringed as I saw him pulling the trigger. Sheer pain ripped itself into my left arm, almost on the shoulder. I cried out in pain and fell backwards, completely forgetting the cliff that would ensure my doom. I could feel a sharp, grassy edge hit my lower spine, and I pivoted backwards. Falling head first, I opened my eyes as I spun backwards, slowly. I could see the ground below me. A shock of agony hit me on impact with the stone, pebbly ground, but only for a second. Then, I could feel absolutely nothing.

**First of all, what did you think? Second of all, where did you think? And third, WHAT THE **** KIND OF TWIST WAS THAT?! I can't believe my own words! MY OWN WORDS! He was so HAPPY (except during Filbert's reprimand), and I completely RUINED IT! Wasn't it great? Anyway, my stomach feels the need for food, and my tongue craves flavor. How about feeding me some feedback, mean or not? I especially enjoy tart, juicy encouragement, but I guess I might enjoy a bit of spicy constructive criticism, too. Oooh, if I could ask a huge favor, could you feed me some sweet, candy-like compassion in your response (despite all of that complete and utter death and destruction in the cliff hanger I gave you), because that would fill my belly with something happy! Anyway, share your thoughts, give me ideas, and tell me everything on your mind. It's not like I can tell what you're thinking. No, that requires you to be within ten meters of me.**


	2. Chapter 2

**Welcome again, to the Whatever-That-Happens-After-The-Last-Chapter! This time, we will be showing you {1: puts ( "The stuff after the stuff that happened before this stuff stuff!" )} Anyway, I am thinking up some base stats for the Starter Pokémon I made in the previous chapter. Also, the stuffy stuff is about to occur, so please silence your cell phones. Popcorn is hidden in a secret lair that you'll never be able to find. **

_**It's behind the "i" in lair. **_

**Hey! Who said that? **

_**Umm… no one, I guess. **_

**You just talked again! **

_**Well, you're the one typing here! **_

**Oh. Yeah. I guess I had better stop and get ready to read.**

_**Yeah, you do that.**_

**SHHHHHH!**

* * *

**Nothing's POV**

Nothing. I could feel nothing. Yet, I couldn't tell why I was still able to think. "Where am I? Who am I?" These were questions that not even nothingness could answer. Surprising, isn't it. By now, I would have thought I would see the afterlife. Or maybe… is this the afterlife? It seems pretty boring, and nothing like it feels like it should be. Or… _felt _like it should be. I can sense my thought escaping me. I was beginning to forget how I got here. I think… it might have been… a drop? Yes, I think it was a fall that killed me. Or was that even me?

Longer still, the absence of stimulus haunted me. It felt like sleeping, but it wasn't. Sort of like being trapped in the legendary Darkrai's Dark Void, but before the nightmare begins. How could I possibly remember Darkrai, but not remember how I died, who I was, or anything else about me? Wait, is that… noise? Can it be? Or is it the beginning of my insanity? Or is it the beginning of my eternal nightmare in Darkrai's trap? But it certainly was there, somewhere far in the distance. Suddenly, I could see again. No, not anything in particular, but I could see darkness again. Now that it was there, it was extremely hard to remember what it was like without darkness. The sounds grew closer. I was beginning to get scared, although my infinitely small consciousness had no body to prepare for defense anymore. It had no exterior to defend itself. All it had was thought.

The darkness I could see began to change shades, from pitch black to something else, then back again. I wasn't quite sure what felt so different, but I could definitely tell a difference, occasionally. The steady noise began to change with the same frequency and duration the darkness did. Its pitch wavered. I saw a light, all of the sudden, fade into existence in front of me. Like a grey horizon, it grew bigger. I could hear… almost voices, now. Muffled as they might be behind a wall. I could not make out a single word they were saying, but I could tell that they weren't happy. I was starting to wonder if it was the same voice, or maybe three. It was so hard to tell, this void of an existence was blocking me from my own senses.

The horizon grew brighter. It was very blurry, but it was certainly getting brighter than before. Almost white, now. I could now feel another sense, I wasn't sure, but I think I could feel now. Although it feels now as though I could feel the whole time. I had a sense of proprioception, now, and I was then able to tell where my new bodied self was. Something was wrong. Something was _**VERY **_wrong. It was hard to put a finger on it, as confusing as this place is, but I had a notion that strange things were happening. Now was when I realized I had no memory of my former self.

The white-grey horizon in front of me got much closer in an instant rush toward it, and then suddenly a stop. When I opened my eyes, or at least, it felt like I had opened them, I saw color. Colors were meshed together, making a blurred picture, and everything was wobbly. It took me a while to realize I was standing. When my… eyes… adjusted, I could see small bubbles of shades of red, flowing upward and downward. The sky imitated the ground, which didn't look like it was there at all. The whole place was sparkling with colored patterns, dazzling lights, and strange figures.

I heard a voice, but different from before. This voice, didn't really sound like a voice at all. There was no way of telling whether it was happy or sad, mean or nice, good or evil, pleased or not. It spoke as clear as my own thoughts, coming from every direction at once. It was perfectly pitched, somehow, as it spoke to me.

"You, there, you have come a long way. Do you remember anything? About your former life…?"

I tried to say, "No," but nothing happened.

"Good."

_**Something's POV**_

I woke up, cold and exhausted. I could barely move, so I didn't. Waves kept pounding on me, and the sand underneath my belly was moving back and forth. I could hear someone talking in the distance, but I couldn't tell what they were saying. I had a sense of déjà vu, as though I knew that voice before, but there was no way I could, right? I couldn't even remember who I was, let alone someone else's voice! Déjà vu though it was, it left me as soon as it came, almost like something was trying to make me forget everything.

The voice, I could tell, yelled, although it still sounded distant. I heard footsteps, close to a gallop, but not with hooves. Something nudged me, so I opened my eyes. I could see a pink, cat-like figure in front of me, a look of shock on its face.

"A-are you okay?!"

"Y-… yeah….." I urged my mouth, but it was so hard to speak.

She sighed, then asked, "How did you get here?" obviously still frantic, but not as much.

"I… have no idea…"

"Oh, okay… well, what's your name?"

_My name? Do I have one? I don't think so, not that I can remember,_

"Um… I don't have one," I said, not really knowing what else to say

"What do you mean? Everyone has one, so why shouldn't you?"

"I can't remember my name… if I had one,"

"Oh, well, okay," she said, "my name is Neathori," _(Neathori… isn't that an elvish name? _B****, didn't I tell you to SHUT YOUR TRAP?! _Sheesh, alright,)_

"Nice name… where am I?"

"We are at Alomomola Shore,"

"Are there shelters nearby?" I asked, trying to get to the point.

"Well… no, not really. The closest place to rest would be Treasure Town, but that is really far away… It would be faster to take the boat to Lucario's Guild." _(Lucario's Guild, you ask? Well, no! Wigglytuff wasn't replaced! This is a whole separate guild! Who could possibly replace a pink balloon of mass destruction? _*sighs* Look, buddy. We all know that there are certain facts left unsaid, but this is it. Blurting out two times in a row, that's where the line is drawn. *grabs machine gun* _No, wait! I can change! _*shoots machine gun into mysterious second narrator's face and abdomen* _*dies on the floor*) _

"Then, let's go there. Do you think… could you take me there?" The Espeon looked at me strangely. I could tell she didn't want to.

"Okay… well, at least… could you just give me directions?" Seeing my disappointment, she threw herself back together.

"Wha-..?! No! I didn't mean that, I'd be happy to take you there. It's just… a slight setback on my trip…"

"Oh, well, I don't want to be very rude… if you don't want to you don't have to…"

"No, it is okay, really… it's just that I wanted to try and make an exploration team over at Wigglytuff's guild…"

"What's wrong with Lucario's guild?" I asked, not quite sure of what the response would be. She cringed, and I confirmed my forethought.

"Well… it's just… we have a sort of… personal conflict, and it's never been settled… I want to make it up with him, believe me, I do! But we haven't spoken in so long; I don't know what sort of response I'll get... I just can't work up the courage to talk to him again… So I was going to go all this way to Wigglytuff's guild instead."

"I'm sorry… you really don't have to if you don't want to…"

"It is fine, I promise. It's a fast boat; it won't delay me too long." She gestured over to a cliff behind me. I turned and saw a face of rock, only a single tree sat on the grasses that lay atop it. This was the first time I had gotten a good glimpse of the world around me. The waves, beating the shore into sand, over and over. Not very many creatures were on the beach, but a single red crab scurried across. To my right, there were trees in the distance, but, serving as a transition between shore and forest, there was grass, its quantities increasing the further from the water you looked.

"So, where do we go?"

"Follow me." She said, simply. As I started to move, I was able to see myself, as I did my environment. Fur all over, about as short as Neathori's, I had a tail unlike hers, which was slim and split to two near the end. Mine was thicker, gradually getting thinner as it got further away, and had small, reptilian thorn-like spikes, lined in a neat order on the top. I realized they went all the way to somewhere near my neck, along my spine. On the tip of my tail, there was a small orb, crimson red, shining, almost emitting a light of its own, in the sunlight. I couldn't see my ears, but they felt pointed, more pointed than Neathori's, as it appeared to me, anyway. My fur was dark blue, but near my paws, there was more of a bright red.

I followed Neathori, walking toward the cliff she gestured towards moments ago. We curved around the cliff, only a sliver of slightly darkened sand to walk on if you weren't looking forward to getting your paws wet. Close to the cliff, I could see the high tide's darkening effect on the stone, which meant that, if during high tide, you wouldn't even be able to walk this way. On the other side of the cliff, there wasn't much a change of scenery, except for the truly superb fact that you have achieved the honor of successfully walked a small length of the beach.

"Alright, this is the place," Neathori said. I couldn't tell a single difference from the place we just were, except the cliff was on the other side this time, and there was much more shade.

"If you say so, although I can't see a boat."

"Silly, the boat doesn't just wait here all day for any old Caterpie that decides to climb aboard! We have to wait for the boat to come." Not knowing at all what a Caterpie was, I continued.

"How do you know the boat will come here?"

"Because the sign says!" I looked around, along the water, far from the coast, but didn't see a sign, or anything else that might imply a boat was going to stop here. Then, I spotted some wood, half buried in the sand. I walked over to the sign, and dug it out, so I could see the picture. But it wasn't a picture at all, just a bunch of scribbles, somehow seeming like they meant something, symbolized something greater than I could see.

"What do they mean?"

"Er… what does what mean?" she replied

"The black scribbles on the sign," she walked over, her face revealing a confused expression.

"The words on the sign? Oh, silly, it's not **that **illegible…"

"But… what do they say?" I asked, feeling bad for not knowing.

"You mean, you can't read?" she looked at me, puzzled with a hint of shock. I shook my head, this being one of the many things one who has lost their memory doesn't have.

"Oh… okay, then. It says, 'Crawdaunt Express: come with Cap'n Crawdaunt and sail to Easternmost Island!'"

"I'm sorry I couldn't read… when you are tossed into existence, it's a bit hard to compete with the skills of people who are used to the area…"

"It is okay; I just thought everyone could read. I understand, you just haven't been taught yet. That's fine, it is just rare."

"Umm, do you think… do you have the time to… teach me? I mean, since we are waiting here anyway, it might… you know… pass the time…" I felt a bit embarrassed asking, but I figured it would give us something to do, since we weren't doing anything.

"Oh! Well, sure! But… I'm not a very good teacher, so don't expect to learn it quick." I didn't think she would say yes that quickly, but I was relieved. She used her claw to draw a symbol. She started, went up and right, diagonally, then down and right. She picked her paw up, and then drew a dash from the midpoint of the first stroke to the midpoint of the other.

"This is called the letter 'A'." she said. She ran me through what she called the Letter Sequence, showing me all the letters. ( "A", "B", "CH", "D", "E", "F", "G", "H", "I", "J", "K", "L", "M", "N", "O", "P", "R", "S", "T", "Þ", "U", "V", "W", "Y", "Z", "Ŋ", is the Letter sequence. As you can see, it has no "C", "Q", or "X", but contains "CH" [ech] as one letter, "Þ" [thorn] , and "Ŋ" [eng].) She showed me what each letter's sound was and what to call them.

After a good long hour, I was able to read. I could associate the sounds represented by the symbols with the words I already knew. In this way, I was able to read the sign for myself, as well as many other words. However, I noticed that sometimes, words were spelled strangely, with two "O"'s next to each other. She explained that there were many problems such as these, so, most of the time, they'd replace it with "**Ō**". Neathori said that, often, if there were a sound that the Letter Sequence's letters couldn't make, they took a letter that sounded similar and added a little squiggle or dash to represent the sound.

"Phew!" she said, "Now that we're done, what else should we do?" Neathori asked.

"I don't know, but I certainly do feel literate, now." I replied. "So, what's it like on Unknown Island?"

"Well... there are lots of tents and stands, Pokémon everywhere, and enough surprises to fill each second with something you've never seen before. It really is a wonderful place!"

"Great! I hope the boat gets here soon. I can't wait to go!" We sat, waiting. The shadows got longer, and I was almost under the shade of the cliff. I tried to find something to do, spelling out words in my head, writing in the sand. My thoughts turned to a group of Wingull above, which began chirping, squawking around, circling in the air. The winds picked up, I noticed, as a particularly outstanding gust of wind brushed the furs on my cheeks, and tilted my ears a little. I began pacing around, somewhat patiently waiting for the boat to come. Then, I saw it. A boat, of course, but a lot different from what I had expected. Coming toward us now, easing its way through the sea, lay a galleon, its silhouette faded blue. It was, as I saw when it came closer, was fully equipped with somewhere around sixty cannons. Its sails wider than the ship itself, I could spot seven of them, pulling the ship forward in the breeze, all atop one mast! The Murkrow's nest was barely visible, but I could spot a small, ribbon-like flag sitting just above it. Rocking back and forth, swaying side to side, the ship approached.

In the distance, I could hear someone shouting, "Captain Crawdaunt's Express, approaching checkpoint! Cap'n Crawdaunt, _The Ocean's Claws _is nearing Alomomola Shore! Prepare to dock!"


	3. Chapter 3

**Hello, folksh, It'sh me again! Shorry I'm late, but shtuff happensh, okay? Oh, and you know that guy who always talks in italics? **_**Me. **_**Yeah that guy, he is gonna be interrupting the story quite a bit, like last time, because you just can't get him to stop. **_**Just try, and see where it gets you. **_**Okay, so, well, I have nothing else to say. Be prepared for italics. Or else.**

The- (_Whoa, whoa, whoa, you forgot something! _I did? _Yes! You completely forgot about foot runes in the last chapter! You should've used those instead of your crappy Latin-based alphabet! _Okay, okay, I see where you're coming from; I will sneak them into this chapter for you, okay? _Sure, bub, just don't make any more mistakes, you hear? I will find you!)_

O… Okay… well, um, let me retry that.

The silhouette of the ship came closer; my awestruck gaze taking in its beauty. I turned to Neathori, who was looking at me with an expression that said, "I know, right?" The gold-embroidered vessel slid into a halt, its hull rising as the ship came in contact with the sand under the waves.

"How do we get on? There aren't any docks." I asked.

"We climb the ladder they will throw forward in just a moment." Sure enough, in a short amount of time, they threw a ladder down. I walked through the salty tides, brushing past my paws. Climbing the wet ropes, I could hear some Pokémon chatting above. When I reached the deck, I was greeted by a Krabby.

"Welcome aboard, traveler!" the Krabby welcomed.

"Thank you! Where do I go?" I replied. Neathori had reached the top of the ladder, and a Corphish pulled up the ladder.

"Just over there, the left door. Yep, yep!" the Krabby pointed its claw at a door towards the back of the boat, just to the left of the entry to the captain's cabin. The door led to some stairs that went down to the next floor. In a wooden hallway, a Kingler waited.

"Ahoy, there, I be Captain Crawdaunt's first mate, Johansson. Would ye like to rent a cabin, or wait in the starboard seating room?"

"Seating room, please," Neathori said.

"Aye, this way, please." We followed Johansson, walking sideways, moving to his right, the side that didn't have the huge claw. We turned around to our lefts, and then kept walking until we reached the end of the hallway. "Wait in here, please."

We walked in the room, several other Pokémon seated. We sat in an open area, our nearest neighbor being a Ledyba. Kingler Johansson walked away. I could hear a bell ring thrice, and we were moving. Swaying side to side, we were off to Easternmost Island. But, apparently, Easternmost Island was going to be the last stop on the whole trip.

Every time we made a stop, a Krabby, Corphish, or Johansson the First Mate would announce where we were. Coconut Island, Stalactite Cave, Salty Beach, Renewed Rock Shore, oh, the list just kept going! More Pokémon came and went; although not that many were in this room. Each time, Pokémon would have to pay to get off the boat, otherwise they had to wait until they got back to the stop they came from and were thrown to shore.

Finally we made it: Easternmost Island. Neathori kindly paid for both of our travel fees: 500 P (I can't put the lines… _You didn't need to tell them that, but okay. Do what you want._).

We got off, along with a Paras, Solosis, Geodude, and two Mareep. I spotted another wooden sign, somewhat proud now that I could read it. This one wasn't buried as deeply as the other. Following a path through the open forest, which wasn't very big, we approached Lucario's Guild. I couldn't see it yet, but Neathori told me we were close. A split in the path appeared, with a sign that said,

**Pokémon Village Lucario's Guild **

Without stopping, we went right. Soon enough, we were there: Lucario's Guild.

"Your best bet is to sign up for Lucario's Guild, one of the best of the guilds. If you get admitted, you will be able to get a place to sleep, and earn money from it at the same time." Neathori told me.

"So… I guess this is goodbye, huh," I sighed.

"Yeah, I guess so." (_But wait, author, this can't happen! They're supposed to fall in love and have little Eevees and be best friends forever! You can't tear them apart! _Shh! You haven't read the other part, yet! And great, now you spoiled it for everyone. Ruined it. _Foiled it. _Spilled the beans. _Crushed their dreams. _Over-Foreshadowed. _Sight of ahead the road. _I think it's about time. _That we should end our rhyme? _That the story shall go on again. _Umm… flying above, there soars a wren… yeah… _Wow. _Pow? _YOU NEVER HEARD THAT, AUDIENCE. _YEAH, THIS DID NOT GIVE YOU SPOILERS._)

"See you later, Neathori, thank you for everything. I will repay you, someday!"

"You are welcome, and so long," Neathori said, seemingly wanting to say my name, but she had no name to say.

She turned and walked back to the _Ocean's Claws_. I Walked up the stone steps, and stopped when I reached the top. I looked back at Neathori, and she looked back at me. I waved, balancing on three paws, and she waved, too. Looking at the entrance to the guild, I noticed a hole in the ground, large enough for almost any Pokémon to stand on. It was right in front of the way into the guild, which was covered with bars. I stood on it, although it was uncomfortable on my feet.

Suddenly, I heard a Pokémon. "Pokémon detected. Its footprint means it is a…. umm… Maybe Flareon… no, Dracoreon! Yes, that's the one, Dracoreon!" said a deep voice, from underneath. The bars retreated into the ground, leaving the entrance open. I walked in, unsure of what else I should do. There was a ladder, made of wood, instead of rope, going down. Before I could even start to climb down, a small brightly colored bird flew up the hole the ladder was in.

"Greetings! I am Bemata Natu. What words does the traveler have to deliver to the Guild of Lucario?" the Natu said.

I replied, "I am here to make an exploration team."

"The traveler wishes to create an exploration team, yet he does not bring members in quantities sufficient enough to have a team. Does the traveler persist in his pursuit of exploring with the Guild of Lucario?" the wording was more complex than usual, but I still knew what he was saying.

"Yes," I replied.

"Very well, come with me." I followed him down the ladder, and we stopped when we reached the first floor below the surface. I noted that there were still windows on one half of the room, which would make sense if you took into account that the building was two or three fathoms high. On our left, facing away from the ladder, Natu led me into a room. Inside the room was dark, but you could tell there was someone there. I could tell, from the noise in the room, that whoever else was in the room was training intensely.

"Lucario, someone has come to enter your guild by creating an exploration team." The sound of punching stopped. A figure appeared instantly in front of us, startling me and Natu, with leg weights, arm weights, and a headband that said something in another language.

"As it might seem." He turned to me, "You, are you sure you want to begin an exploration team with only one member?"

"Yes," I repeated.

"Well, then. Since you only have one member so far, I suppose this may seem a harsh thing to start your training with, but, to begin training, you must face me in battle. Normally, I would make it an unfair fight for me to make it easier on you, but I can't do that with one opponent. Don't worry, you will get an exploration team whether you win or lose."

"I understand,"

"What is your name?"

"I… don't have one…"

"Oh?" He looked at me, puzzled. "Where do you live?"

"I don't live, either." I realized what I had said wrong when he looked at me, shocked. "I mean… I don't have a place to live in." he sighed.

"Oh. Well, time to talk will resume after this battle. Are you ready?" he asked.

"Ready,"

"Let's go!"

He backed away into the dark, extremely fast. I couldn't tell where to strike, so I didn't move. A blow from my left flew into my face before I could detect anything else. I hit a wall on my flank side, but I was still able to fight. When I saw Lucario coming this time, I was able to dodge it just barely. His fist slid past me, and I attacked his arm before he yanked me forward by my jaw, and then kicked me in my stomach. I could tell I was beat, but I got up to fight anyway. Lucario hadn't moved from where he was, so I jumped forward and used everything sharp I had to damage him. I didn't know where he hit me or how many times he did, but the next thing I knew I was completely unconscious.

_(When I woke, I realized that I was in a completely different dimension with floating sprinkles and giant icicles. I then saw the author about TO HIT MY FA- _*punch* _*flies across the screen of your computer/laptop* _Quit fooling these people with your nonsense! _Why? _I don't know. _Good talk. _)

I was wondering what would happen to me. Would I wake up somewhere completely new and lose my memory, like last time? No, because I still had my memory now. That couldn't be happening to me, now, could it? I opened my eyes, and in poured relief and vision.

"You okay?" Lucario asked.

"Yeah…" I said, drowsily. I got up, and looked around. Natu was still sitting where he was when we started to fight, but an Audino was nearby, with a basket of Oran and Sitrus berries. Lucario was kneeling next to me, his breathing steadier than someone who had just woken up. Shouldn't he be panting?

"Well, I have good news and bad news. Do you want to hear the bad news first?"

"Sure…"

"The bad news is, you might have a few bruises, but the good news is, you are alive, and you now have an exploration team. You did surprisingly well, actually. The last duo of Pokémon I fought didn't last as long as you, and there were two of them! Have you been training?"

"No, the only thing I have done my whole life so far is walk and talk. Well, the only thing I can remember." His grin slowly faded.

"What do you mean?" he asked.

"Well, you might think I'm… crazy, but I woke up without any memory on a beach. I couldn't even read! Then an Espeon named Neathori found me and took me here." He took this and digested it.

"Natu, Audino, May you please leave the room for just a moment?" they nodded and proceeded out the entrance of Lucario's room. "Well, little Dracoreon, that's exactly what happened to me."

I could feel my jaw drop, and my ears perked up. "Yes, my first experiences in this world were waking up on a beach in response to an Eevee. That Eevee's name was, none other than, Neathori herself."

I didn't know how I could get any more shocked. "The same Neathori I met?!"

"Yes. She formed an exploration team with me, just like you, but at Wigglytuff's guild. We went on many adventures, found troves of treasure, and found my past self's partner, Grovyle. It's a lot to explain, so that story will be saved for another time."

"Excuse me for interrupting, but she said she was on her way to make another exploration team when she met me. Why would she need to do that if she was already in one?" I asked.

"Well," he sighed, "Our exploration team was disbanded. I didn't want it to be, after all we had gone through together, but she was depressed at the time. She told me she felt she wasn't strong enough to be on a team with me. I don't know why she had such a change in mood, but that's what happened. After she left, I decided to make my own Guild here, since being on an exploration team without Neathori seemed impossible.

"But, I still remembered my name, so why didn't you? Do you remember anything at all?"

"No, the only thing I am sure of is that I wasn't a Pokémon before I lost my memory."

"Oh," he said, "So do you think you could have been a human? That's what I was, before I was a Riolu."

"I have no idea."

"Well, I don't know what else to do with you. Who knows who you were before you were you? By the way… you said your whole life was only walking and talking. Did you mean it?"

"Yeah, after I woke, I hadn't done anything except that and learn to read. Neathori taught me."

"So, that means you didn't evolve?"

"Umm… no,"

"Hmm… strange… with no experience, how could you have just started off as a Dracoreon? These mysteries will have to be solved, but not right now. You should get some rest. It's already dark outside!"

"Okay. Where do I go?" Lucario showed me to my room, which was just under the floor we were on. I slept through the night, wondering what tomorrow would bring.

I woke up to the sound of really loud buzzing.

"Get up, zzzlacker!" said Yanmega. It made a really loud buzz noise once more, and then left the room.

I got up and walked through the tunnel of dirt to the main room. Lucario was in front, facing the crowd of explorers waiting to be given a command. I joined the crowd. Natu, by Lucario's side, began to speak.

"You should know-for I have previously assigned these tasks-that you must fulfill the duties presented by the bulletin boards on the first floor. For those who have business inside the guild, please proceed to do so as you have done the days before. That is all." Natu said. Everyone else did their job.

"You, come here," Lucario said after everyone had left, "Normally, you would do the jobs on the bulletin boards like everyone else, but, since you are new, I would like you to do some training with me, instead. It gets pretty lonely in the dark, you know."

"Yes, sir," I followed Lucario to his room. Nothing was different from yesterday, it was still incredibly dark. Apparently, there was much more to the room then I thought, because we kept moving into the seemingly endless dark, an impossible amount of light absent from view.

"I always train and fight, every day. Sometimes, I train for days without sleeping or eating. To be the best in combat, you need to be as malleable as the air around you. Step one in your training: Trust your senses. Even without sight, you need to be able to see your opponent with your ears and smell. Sense their presence, their aura. Although I have an ability that allows me to sense auras without trying, there are ways to remove that ability, so that I can hone my other senses as well as I do vision." I couldn't see him, not even the exit; I could hear him walking away. I didn't know what would happen, so I stiffened, and tried to use my ears and smell. I was afraid he was going to beat me up again.

I heard sounds coming from my left so I turned, despite the fact that I couldn't see anything whether I turned or not. A big chunk of what seemed like wood plopped itself on my head, leaving me dazed.

"Ouch, what was that for?" I asked, but with no reply, rubbing my head. I heard more sounds from behind, so I moved to my right before the chunk of wood could come any closer. I didn't hear any wood fall where I was standing before, but I knew that I had been tricked when a rock was speeding into my jaw.

Wood, rocks, bricks, bones, sand, sawdust, and mud was thrown at me, and at an uneventful rate, I eventually learned to dodge them all. The night was over, so Lucario let me sleep.

Many more days like this were spent training me in one attribute or another, and once every five days Guild-master Lucario would quiz me on all of the previous training sessions at once: not just the other four days' sessions, but all sessions I have EVER done.

This kept on going and going, until one day…

"Quick, Dracoreon, get up! It's an emergency!" I could tell something was wrong when Yanmega didn't wake me up like usual. I got up as they said, and saw Kingdra, a guild member I didn't know very well {I didn't really know any of the guild members, doing the training and everything. My eyes imploding upon themselves in pain, through the slightest crack between my eyelids I could see that it was still dark outside. "Come, quick! We need all the help we can get!"

"What is happening?" I asked.

"Rhyperior's Forge: it's coming down!" I didn't know much about Pokémon Village, but I knew that the Forge was thirteen floors tall; though it isn't much, it's the tallest building in the village.

I ran out so fast I was surprised at how fast I made it outside. When I made it to the village, I could immediately tell why there was a problem. The smoke from Rhyperior's Forge, which had a statue of Rhyperior on the top of the structure, didn't help my eyes very much. Tons of Machoke, Machamp, Graveler, and Rhydon were running out the entrance to the building.

Kingdra caught up with me, "We need you to go in there and get everyone out be-…" _**BANG…**_

The whole building exploded into tiny bits, which were falling and crushing some smaller tents below, including one of the Kecleon shops. There were tons of screams from the crowd as Pokémon were running from the barrage of shrapnel and dust coming their way. Even as the debris fell upon us like hail, I ran toward the building, trying to make sure no one got hurt. I saw a small Budew sitting on the floor, looking around frantically, while a large piece of the building was falling on him. I ran over to him, picked him up with my teeth, and was crushed under the stone before I could take him to safety. All went silent, and my last thoughts were of fear. I wasn't afraid of the rock, no; I was afraid I was going to lose my memory again.

_**What is up WITH YOUR CLIFF HANGERS?! **_**It just adds emphasis to the story. You know. Fun stuff. **_**I hate it! I hate it, I hate it, I hate it, I HATE IT! **_**That's just too bad, isn't it? YOU are going to have to LIVE with it. Or die with it. Either works, but I would prefer you to live with it, because I want you to writhe in the despair of not knowing what happens next, while I try not to make the next chapter five weeks late this time. It doesn't matter. Last time I checked, no one was reading this. I wonder how long that will last, this story's seclusion from the minds of anyone else but me. Oh well. I haven't checked in a while, just like I haven't posted a chapter in a while, either. Toasjfvcdjkacnkwihjrfiuhcnwoeiufhnjiweuhyhqnevijoizjriuopqkidhijn to everyone who isn't reading this. So not you. Because you are reading this. Or are you?! HAY! BIG GUY EATING THE POPCORN! YES, YOU! COME OVER HERE AND READ THIS OR… SOMETHING MIGHT HAPPEN! **


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